Just In Time

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter (even though I really wish I did)

Author's Note: I know, it's been forever, and I really don't have an excuse other than EXTREME writer's block for this fic:( But I hope you enjoy this chapter! Also, if you enjoy stories about A) The Marauders B) The Marauders' reactions when James and Lily come back or C) Stories where Sirius is in time to save the Potters, check out my other fics 'Harry Potter and the Marauder's Secret', 'Yes, They're Siriusly Back', and 'All the Difference', respectively:) Okay, enough advertising, enjoy the chapter!

*Also, at the moment, we're going to assume that the only people at Grimmauld Place at the moment are James, Sirius, Remus, the Weasleys, and Hermione:)

Chapter Three: Confrontation

1995

James did not know how long he sat on the floor in front of Sirius's bedroom. He just sat there, staring vacantly at the wall, trying to figure out what the bloody hell was going on. He heard Sirius grumbling beyond the door, and James felt horrible. Horrible for the way he'd been so blunt with Sirius, horrible that Sirius had been through so much, and horrible for dying on his brother. He knew that Sirius must miss him terribly; James would have felt the same way if it had been Sirius who'd died. But James didn't have a clue as to how to get Sirius to open the door.

And then, and idea struck him.

"Sirius!" shouted James, banging on the door. What had Sirius called him earlier? Harry? "It's Harry! Open up, it's important!"

James faintly remembered Sirius mentioning that he was this 'Harry' figure's godfather. Maybe if he thought his godson needed him, he'd put his self-pity in a box and shut it for a few minutes to open the door. All James needed was a moment - a moment to convince Sirius of who he was. It was killing him, the way things had turned out. Why was he dead? Why did Sirius and Remus look so old? All James needed was answers, and he knew he could get them...if Sirius would just open the damn door!

"Sirius, please!" begged James, pounding harder on the door still. "Open up!"

"You know the way he is when he's asleep, mate." laughed a voice from behind James. The latter turned around abruptly, and recognized the face of the boy who'd been sleeping in the bed across from his when he'd woken up. He bore a slight resemblance to the twins James had seen earlier, as he shared their freckles and red hair. He was grinning ear to ear, and was still in his nightclothes.

"What time is it?" asked James tiredly, giving the door one last hopeless glance.

"Too early to be awake," grumbled the boy. "But I'm up, anyway. My stomach's more important than sleep."

This boy behaved much like Sirius and, like Sirius, the boy obviously thought James was someone he was not. James rounded on the boy, and decided to try to get some answers from him, instead of pounding relentlessly on Sirius's door.

"Mind if I ask you something?" asked James, staring intently at the boy.

"Sure?" asked the boy uncertainly. "What's up?"

"What happened to James Potter?"

It took the boy a minute to answer. He gave James a funny look - a look that clearly said the boy thought he was insane. He scrunched his eyebrows, and cocked his head to the side, making him look like a lost dog. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he asked, "Are you feeling alright, mate?"

"Brilliant," replied James sarcastically, rolling his eyes. The boy seemed a little taken aback at James's attitude, but gave who he thought was his friend an answer to his odd question anyway.

"Harry," said Ron carefully. "Your dad died years ago...remember? He was killed by You-Know-Who."

James's heart stopped. Really, he should not have been so surprised; Voldemort was evil, and had been heard about for years back in James's time. He had already killed people, and they said he was only going to get more powerful. But to hear it so bluntly - to hear that he was going to die before he had even begun to live, was extremely unsettling. He thanked the red-head robotically, and the boy gave him another strange look as he exited the hallway, presumably towards the kitchen. James turned back to Sirius's door, and began to pound on it again.

"SIRIUS! OPEN UP!"

1976

James Potter had lived in the same house his entire life. It was big, with lots of space for him to run and play in. His parents were old, even by wizarding standards, and were very wealthy. James practically got everything he wanted, and that included a 'brother' to live with him.

Sirius Black had been staying with James since the first week of Summer that year, when he'd run away from his own, prejudiced home at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Sirius knew his way around Potter Manor even better than he had known his way around Grimmauld Place. So, needless to say, Sirius was able to run to the top-floor kitchen in record time, even when he was practically having a heart-attack the whole way there.

"Remus!" he was panting breathlessly as he finally entered the kitchen. "Moony! Need-help-can't-breathe!"

"Sirius!" shouted Remus, obviously annoyed. He rushed over to his friend and glared at him, asking Peter to keep an eye on the food. "Use your words! What's wrong?"

"Something's wrong with James!" said Sirius quickly, speaking in a very high-pitched voice. "He doesn't know who he is, and he didn't know where he was, and he - knew - and I- ugh! You're the smart one - fix it!"

"I'll see what I can do," said Remus, beginning to walk downstairs leisurely. Sirius followed his lycanthrop friend, and both could smell their breakfast burning behind them.

1976: The Evans' House

"What is Potter doing here?" grumbled Lily to herself, completely ignoring her sister. She brushed right past Petunia, and aimed a good kick at James's scrawny little leg - it felt good to kick him, almost like payback for everything he'd put her through. But the kick did nothing to wake James up, and Lily let out a shout of frustration. She couldn't very well tell her mum and dad that there was a boy in her room - they would \misinterperet her words entirely, and she would get in trouble. Asking Tuney or Severus was out of the question as well...so what was she to do?

"Lily!" screeched Petunia, getting in her sister's face. Even though Petunia Evans hadn't spoken civily to her sister in quite a long time, the prospect of being ignored by a 'freak' was just not in the cards. "Who is this freaky boy, and just what is he doing here?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be grumbling to myself, Petunia!" said Lily angrily. "I know him from school."

Petunia rolled her eyes, and practically spat at Lily. "Don't mention that place around me!"

Lily was beginning to get even more frustrated; she'd about had it with her sister. That, ontop of everything else that was going on, made Lily's blood boil, and she could feel her face turning red. She was so tempted to just go and get her wand, but she held back. She couldn't get expelled from Hogwarts - no. So Lily took a few steadying breaths, and turned to face her sister full-front.

"Listen to me, Petunia," she hissed, narrowing her gorgeous emerald eyes dangerously. "I don't complain when you mention your school, and I don't drone on and on all the time about your being a Muggle. Why not show a little respect, hm? Or better off, stop acting the way you do altogether! I'll live my life, you live yours, and we stay out of each other's business! Would that make you happy? Just go away, Petunia! Wouldn't want to get my freak germs on you!"

Petunia scoffed, annoyed, and flipped her perfect brown hair snootily. She quite literally stuck her nose up at her younger sister, and marched out of the room with more precision than a soldier. Her dress fluttered slightly behind her, and she slammed the door on her way out. Lily was seething even when the clock on her wall said that a full five minutes had passed since the argument. Lily took a moment more to collect her thoughts, before using her foot to flip Potter over on his back. He was still out cold by the looks of it, and the glasses that were pressed against his eyes were slightly crooked. Lily bent down next to the cocky, arrogant Gryffindor and shook his shoulders violently.

"Enough's enough, Potter," she said tiredly, her fight with her sister seemingly draining her of all energy. "Just get up and go home, will ya? You're going to get me into trouble if you stay here any longer."

Lily shook James's shoulders harder still, yet he did not budge. Lily knew that she could make the whole process move along much more quickly with a simple Enervate!, but she could not do that legally. Trying to stop a migraine from coming on, Lily contemplated slapping James across the face.

"Potter, come on! Up! Get up now!"

Meanwhile, Harry was in the middle of a very funny dream. But no - it could not have been real! His mother was dead, and his Aunt was certainly not a teenager. He could hear a harsh, hate-filled voice telling him to get up, and he figured he was back at Privet Drive, and that his Aunt wanted him to cook breakfast or something. Not wanting a scolding so early in the morning, Harry shot out of bed like a bullet from a gun. And that's when he realized -

He wasn't in a bed. He was on a floor, staring up at a gorgeous redhead with the exact same eyes as he. Harry rubbed his eyes, looking at his mum while the vision was still there. She had been so beautiful...Harry was sure he could stare at her forever...

But Harry remembered Dumbledore's words - it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. Harry had to wake up from this mirage, and get on with his life. He had to make his mum proud. So he pinched his arm once, and the pain stung him sharply. Why wouldn't he just wake up?

"Y-You're not P-Potter..." said Lily shakily, staring at the boy in front of her. Their eyes met, and she noticed that the boy had green eyes, her eyes..."Who are you, and what are you doing here? Go away! Don't hurt me!"

"I-I'm not going to- to-" Harry stumbled on his words, and nervously got up from the floor. Lily followed suit, and stared at him still. Whoever this boy was, he was not James Potter - his nose was shorter, and his eyes were green, and his ears were the wrong shape -

"Lily!" scolded the little voice in the back of her mind. "Do not notice the shape of Potter's ears!"

"WHO ARE YOU?" demanded Lily again, once again contemplating getting her wand. One quick hex -

"Harry Potter!" the boy said defensively, thrusting his hands in front of him in innocence. His eyes begged Lily to believe them, and - though she could not believe it - she did. The boy did look an awful lot like James...a distant relative, perhaps...

"Why did James send you here?" Lily asked a bit more softly, not wanting her parents to hear. As it was, she was surprised that Petunia had not ratted her out...

I'll live my life, you live yours, and we stay out of each other's business!

Maybe Petunia had taken her seriously for the first time in years - maybe the sisters were really done with each other...

"He didn't," explained Harry, staring at Lily as though he was seeing a ghost. He was very pale as he looked at her, and Lily rose her eyebrows in surprise. Why was Harry looking at her that way? The two had never met before, or anything...

"Listen," said Harry suddenly. "What I'm going to tell you is the truth...but you're never going to believe me..."

Lily snorted, and rolled her perfect eyes, those same eyes shared by Harry Potter. "Try me," she laughed humorlessly.

"I'm from the future, I Portkeyed here from James Potter's house, and you're my mother!"

Harry was right - Lily didn't believe him. Not in the least.

1995

James's fists were starting to hurt very badly. He was sure they were bruised by that point, he'd been banging on Sirius's door so long. But the idiot still wouldn't let him in - Sirius had never been so reluctant to show James how he was family. But then, James decided, Sirius had also never been faced with such emotions. And not only that, but Sirius didn't even believe that James was James. So while his behavior was understandable, it still aggrivated James to no end, and so he continued to bash the door.

Though he knew he'd probably get in trouble for it, James whipped his wand from his back pocket, where he often kept it. He pointed it at the door, and said a quick yet fervent, "Alohamora!" He heard a small click, and James twisted the doorknob slowly...

The door opened with a creak, and James wanted to slap himself across the face for not having thought of magic earlier. But all thoughts of sarcasm were erased as James stared at the room in front of him; he'd never seen anything so wrecked. The dresser was completely on its side, the drawers sticking out at odd angles. The small chair in the corner was turn to bits, and most of the linens were ripped from the bed. Sirius was on that bed asleep, by the looks of it. He'd slept through all of that pounding on the door? James snorted quietly, and continued to survey the room. Yes- this was definitely Sirius. James took a small step forward, and his foot stepped on something that made a crunching sound. James looked down, and saw that he had stepped on a framed photograph that was already pretty torn up.

James sucked in a shocked breath - the picture was familiar, yet foreign at the same time. That was him, but he looked about a year or so older, as did his friends. Sirius had an arm slung carelessly around him and Remus, and Peter was winking at the camera. He probably thought winking would make him look cool, but really, he looked like an even bigger nerd than usual. And next to James - no...no way...

"Lily?" whispered James, watching the photograph in awe as Lily Evans - the Lily Evans! - planted a kiss willingly, right on James's cheek...

James took the picture from the frame, and folded it in half, placing it in his pocket. He crept closer and closer to Sirius's bed, afraid of waking him. He knew he'd have to eventually, but he'd have to be incredibly careful about it - one wrong move, and he'd probably end up with boneless legs or something...

James lowered his voice an octave, so as not to be recognized, and said carefully, "Sirius?"

Sirius stirred slightly, and groggily sat up in bed. He blinked rapidly a few times, clearing the sleep from his eyes, and he looked blindly towards James. "Wha'timeisit?" he mumbled, asking the sentence without any pauses, as thought it was one large word.

"I don't know," answered James honestly, coming nearer to Sirius's bed. He sat on the edge of it, and waited patiently while Sirius's eyes adjusted to the light. James felt a pang of sadness as he looked at his old friend - a day ago, Sirius had been bright, vibrant, and happy. The man in front of James showed no signs of any of those emotions - there were no laugh lines on his face, which was sullen and thin-looking. It seemed like Sirius had starved himself for a very long time, and was just now getting back into the habit of eating. His hair was very grown out, but thinning, and there were stress wrinkles all of his face. It killed James inside - no pun intended - to know that this was the fate of the little boy who'd once been terrified of being placed in Slytherin.

"What's wrong, Harry? Are you hurt?" asked Sirius, not yet fully awake. If James's guess was correct, then Sirius probably thought that everything to do with James had all been a very big, very wrong dream.

"I'm not hurt...I don't think so, anyway..." said James, self-consciously surveying his physical appearance. He was still in his striped pajamas and over-sized coat he'd fallen asleep in the night before; his house had been rather drafty. But James shook his head, messing up his hair, and he stared at Sirius. "I need to talk to you - I know you won't believe me, but it's important that we talk. Okay?"

"Is your scar hurting again?" asked Sirius, his gray eyes travelling to James's forhead. His face changed completely when he saw no scar. "What the-?" he mumbled, staring at James intensely. "Where's your scar? What's going on?"

"You won't believe me," insisted James. "But I'm not Harry."

"Then who are you?" laughed Sirius weakly, a guarded expression crossing his face. "Hermione Granger?"

"I don't even know who that is," James said quickly. "But that's not the point. Sirius, it's me - it's James. I don't know how, but I think I've gone forward in time or something. Please don't stalk out of the room again - we really should talk. I have some questions that need answered - like how the bloody hell all of this happened?"

Sirius stared at James without another word. There was something about his face - something that made Sirius realize that this boy was telling the truth. And he looked so bloody much like James...maybe...no! Sirius couldn't afford to hope like that! It would destroy him all over again, and -

"If it's a problem, I could prove it, of course," said James nonchalantly, jumping from the bed and into the mess that Sirius had made in the heat of anger. James concentrated for a few minutes, before his whole body began to rebuild itself into another form - the form of a large, glorious stag. Prongs swung his head proudly, tossing his antlers from one angle to another. It was clear by his expression that Sirius thought he was dreaming - but for once, he decided not to care.

Again, sorry for the wait! But I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter:) I'll try to update more regularly...I didn't realize how much I missed this story! Anywhoo, reviews are always appriciated, and I'll see you all later for Chapter 4! Mwah!

~marauderette-47